Chain of Memories
by elven-girl10
Summary: To find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is the way of things in Castle Oblivion. Sora and Company explore a strange castle, in order to find those that they seek. Novelization of the game.
1. Chapter 1

_**From the desk of Elvengirl10.**_

Greetings everyone. Just wanted to extend a warm welcome to my new story. If you haven't guessed from the title and/or summary, this is a novelization of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the sequel game set inbetween Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, orginally released for the Gameboy Advance, and more recently the Playstation 2 (under the title Re: Chain of Memories.)

Just a word on how this story will run. For the most part, I'll be sticking with the Castle Oblivion floors (the main plot), and not bothering with the world floors, like Agarabah, Olympus Colliseum, and The 100 Acre Wood (Don't really know how I'd make that a full chapter anyway.) Traverse Town, Twilight Town, and Destiny Islands will also be included, mainly because it's plot. If people want World Floor chapters, I might do one-shots to supplement this story, but that will rely on the demand.

Most of the dialogue will be based off of the Chain of Memories manga (published by TokyoPop), the game script I found off of the internet, and Re: Chain of Memories cutscenes. I'm sorry if it sounds rather familer. I'm doing my best to add my own spin on this, but don't expect anything changed to drastically.

Also, I assume you, the reader, have some knowlege of Kingdom Hearts when you read this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Sorry if I rambled a bit. Please, enjoy.

-Elvengirl10.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney. Not me._

* * *

_

_All hearts lead to the same heart._

_"Kingdom Hearts."_

_A place where the might heart lives._

_And where darkness is endlessly deep…._

_Once upon a time, there were many different worlds. Each world was locked, and they did not intermingle__. Three children wanted to escape and see the outside worlds. One day, darkness appeared and engulfed the worlds. Many worlds were engulfed by darkness and disappeared._

_And one boy was chosen to save the worlds. The boy and his friends fought darkness and locked many doors._

_In another place, a lost friend was about to be swallowed by darkness, but he also had the power to overcome darkness. He lost his body, and his soul was left behind on the other side of the door, and his heart began hovering between light and darkness. _

_The boy was able to lock the last door with the help of his friend, who defeated the darkness. _

_After his journey, the boy said goodbye to his friends, and ended up in a strange place far away from home._

_Clues for finding his friend on the other side of the door came and went._

_But the boy had friends._

_And he had hope._

_-Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Manga Volume 1._

* * *

Sora woke suddenly. It was late at night, and a large full moon cast its meager light on the strange world that he was now in. Not to far away, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket slept, oblivious to their friend's awakening. Sora sighed. How long had it been since they had defeated Ansem, and locked Kingdom Hearts? Since they had locked King Mickey and Riku in the realm of Darkness. He hoped his best friend was alright, and Kairi to, alone on Destiny Islands. He was starting to doubt whether he would see his friends again. What was at the end of this long and winding dirt road? Everything had seemed hopeful when they'd started following Pluto, the King's dog. Now, things just seemed to keep going with no end in sight.

Unable to get back to sleep, Sora decided to walk. With the moon shining down, it was easy to see where the road went, and he didn't plan to stray too far. Before long he came to a crossroad, three paths leading three different ways. The place felt slightly eerie to him, like some thing important had happened there before. Something that he was tied to in a way.

"Ahead lies something you hold dear…."

Sora froze. There was someone behind him. The brown-haired boy turned quickly, ready to attack, or at least demand who it was. But there was no one there.

"But to claim it….you must lose something first…"

Sora turned again. The speaker stood in front of him. Tall, wearing a long black cloak that fluttered in the chill wind that had begun to blow. The face was obscured by a hood. The speaker turned to leave. Sora began to follow, but the cloaked figure seemed to disappear into the night. Strange things were afoot. He had to get Donald and Goofy.

* * *

"You're certain he went this way?" Donald asked. He wasn't exactly pleased with being woken up so early.

"I'm positive," Sora replied, heading down the straight path from the crossroads.

"It doesn't look like anyone was here," Goofy said, looking around in the morning light. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Sora?"

"No. I remember it perfectly. I couldn't sleep last night, so I took a little walk. When I came to this crossroad, a man appeared and said that something I held dear lay ahead. It's has to be Riku and the King!" Sora sounded excited. Goofy, Donald, and Jiminy looked at each other. They were a little bit skeptical, but if this was an actual lead...

"Alright Sora. We might as well investigate this," Jiminy nodded. Sora grinned, and lead the way down the path.

* * *

They had been walking all day, but there had been no sign of Riku and the King, or of the hooded person. Donald and Goofy were starting to lose hope. Sora was fighting not to give into doubt. It had to be this way. They had to be at the end of this path. He wasn't going to give up.

As night fell, a large castle came into view. It towered over them on the edge of a cliff, large and intimidating. It seemed fairly new, the brown stone seeming unweathered, and the green roof showed no sign of wear. Behind it, storm clouds gathered.

_'He's here,'_ Sora thought, as he regarded the castle. Without a second thought, he started walking towards the castle. Donald and Goofy followed silently, confused by the actions of their friend. Even so, there was something about this castle that seemed to draw them in.

They opened the door upon a long white hallway. Pillars ran along both sides, but aside from that there was no decoration. At the end of the hallway was a large wooden door, which seemed quite out of place. Nobody else was around.

"You sure we should be barging in like this?" Goofy asked, looking around nervously.

"We have, if we're going to find the King," Donald replied.

"You mean that King Mickey's here?" Goofy said in a shocked manner. Immediately, his nervousness changed to excitement.

"Maybe. Something just told me that he'd be here," Donald nodded.

"That's kinda funny, Donald," Goofy nodded. "Y'see, I was thinkin' the same thing."

"No way. So was I," Sora said, breaking free of his thoughts. "Just one look at this castle, and I knew, they're here."

"Great minds think alike then," Goofy grinned.

"But it can't be coincidence," Jiminy Cricket piped up. "I was thinking the same thing as well."

"Something's going on," Donald said, glaring at the floor. He was immediately suspicious of the castle. "I think we should go check it out."

"Sounds like a good idea," Sora said, turning and heading towards the door.

"Wh-where are you going?" Donald demanded.

"To check things out. What's the matter? Scared?" Sora teased, facing Donald once again.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Donald shouted, following Sora. "C'mon Goofy."

"Alright, but shouldn't we close the door first?" Goofy said, turning to complete the task. He froze for a second. "Sora!"

"What?" Sora asked, and then gasped. Standing in front of the door, blocking their way out was the same hooded figure from earlier. "You!" He jumped back, and at once, the Keyblade appeared in his hands.

"It must be a heartless," Donald said, "I'll take care of it. We'll see how it likes my magic. Thunder!" Donald raised his staff, but nothing happened. "Huh? That's weird. Thunder! THUNDER!" Still nothing. "Um…Fire?! Blizzard…" Still nothing. "Where is all my magic?" Donald cried, shaking his staff as if trying to get some magic out.

"I should think it obvious," said the figure, striding towards them, "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and ability you knew. In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is they way of things in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" Sora asked, looking around. He didn't really like the sound of the name. That was certain.

"Yes….Here you will meet people you know. People you miss…" The figure said, almost persuasively. If his face was showing, it would most certainly be smiling.

"Look, far as I can see there's…." Sora paused. No way. It couldn't… "Riku? You mean Riku's here?"

The figure didn't answer, but something disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sora was about to say something, when he reappeared behind him.

"Do you wish to find him?" The figure asked, "If you do…" Throwing his hand out in front of him, a wave of petals and black wind hit Sora. Sora threw his hands up to guard himself. It seemed as though the hooded man passed through him.

"What was that?" Sora demanded, holding the keyblade in an attack stance. He ran towards the man, intending to attack, but the figure disappeared in a shower of petals, only to reappear in front of the wooden door at the other end of the hall.

"I simply sampled your memories," the figure replied, "And with them, I made this. The key to reuniting you with those you hold dear." With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a blue card down to Sora.

"A card?" Sora asked, confused.

"Hold the card before you, and the door will open. Beyond it, a new world. Go Sora. To lose and claim anew or to claim anew only to lose…" With that cryptic statement, the figure left once more in the cloud of smoke.

Sora looked once more at the card. If this was truly the way to find Riku, then there was no other choice.

"C'mon. Let's go."

* * *

**A/N:** So, there we go. The next chapter will encompass Traverse Town and it's events.

Regarding updates and when they can be expected. Um...don't expect anything to regular. Basically the new chapter will be up when it is. I am a busy person. I am in first year university. I do have papers to write and reading to do. Obiviously, fanfiction is not to high on the priorities list. And if you want a good chapter, you'll let me take my time and ruminate on it. I will do the work when I have time. I also don't apologize for any of my shortcomings, so please, be patient. Good things come to those who wait.

Again, thank you for reading my story. Please feel free to review or ask questions, or suggest things. You are allowed to criticis me, but don't bother flaming me. If you have the energy to tell me what I'm doing wrong, you have the energy to tell me how to fix it.

Thanks to thesixthturk for looking this over for me, and giving me an opinion. It is appreciated.

Until next time. Thanks again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and it's characters belong to Squareenix. Both the Chain of Memories manga and the gamescript were used in this chapter.

* * *

Sora approached the door, and looked back at Donald and Goofy. The two of them nodded. This was the only way to go. Sora held the card up towards the door, and it started to glow with a soft blue light. The doors opened without a sound.

"Let's go find Riku and the King!" said Sora, and walked into the light.

* * *

When it faded, Sora gasped. He looked around, amazed.

"This is…Traverse Town," He said, "But we're still inside the castle."

"This is weird," Donald nodded, "Ack! Goofy, when did you get the new clothes?"

"Huh?" Goofy looked down. His clothes had changed. His vest had a lot more pockets, and he now had a pair of goggles sitting on his forehead. "Your clothes have changed to," Donald."

Goofy was right. Donald's hat had become a bit more floppy, and it looked like he was wearing a cloak rather than a shirt. Sora laughed.

"You guys look like when I first met you," he said, smiling. It seemed so long ago, that it had been just him, Riku, and Kairi on the island, about to go looking for other worlds. In fact, it was here that the whole adventure began. Traverse Town. The first world he had ever come to and the one where he met Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy.

"This must be the power of the cards," said Jiminy, "They must take you to places in your memory."

Sora nodded. It sounded right.

"Let's start searching. Maybe Riku and the King are here," he said. It would be an interesting place to meet them. Where it all began.

And so they began, wandering the streets of Traverse Town. It felt weird to Sora. Like he was starting his adventure all over again.

"We've been looking all over," Goofy sighed, after they had searched just about everywhere, "And there isn't a sign of the King or Riku."

"We can't give up now! Let's check the second district again," Sora said. They had to be here.

"Can't we take a break first?" Donald asked, leaning against a lamppost.

"I suppose," said Sora. He did feel tired. He was about to sit down, when something stopped him. He looked around. He knew this feeling. The keyblade appeared in his hands. Donald and Goofy were alert to.

The heartless sprang towards Sora and his companions. Sora turned suddenly, swatting away several heartless. This was what had been missing. This version of Traverse Town had been way to quiet. But something didn't feel right.

'That's right,' Sora remembered suddenly, with a desperate block. 'I'd forgotten how to fight.' He moved in front of Donald, who was having trouble because he had no magic.

"Is this it, guys?" Goofy said a tremor in his voice. No. Not here. Not now. Riku and the King were so close.

"I don't recall inviting you here, heartless," came a voice. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy turned in unison, only to see a bright light eradicate the heartless around them. The figure walked towards them, "Keep fighting like that and you'll be heartless fodder in no time."

"Leon!" Sora said, grinning. He ran over to the man, a tall brown-haired man, holding a weapon that looked like a mix between a gun and sword. A gun blade, to be precise.

"How do you know my name?" said Leon, taking a step back rather quickly. He looked worried.

"What are you talking about? It's me," Sora replied. How could Leon not remember him. After all that they'd been through together, "We fought the Heartless together. At Hollow Bastion!"

"Nope, sorry, nothing's ringing any bells," said Leon, turning to leave. Sora ran after him.

"Don't you remember when we parted ways, I thought I wasn't going to see you, or anyone else again, and then you said, "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other"! C'mon Leon, you gotta remember that," Sora said, practically pleading. Leon turned back around, and looked at Sora rather concerned. Either that statement had jarred something loose in his mind, or he seriously thought that Sora was crazy.

"Look. I feel for you, but you've got the wrong guy," he said finally.

"What's going on?" Goofy said, looking at Donald.

"Maybe this town was taken over by Castle Oblivion as well," said Jiminy, looking rather thoughtful. It seemed logical though. How else was an entire town supposed to appear in a castle?

"So, maybe Leon's lost his memory as well," Donald said, falling in line with Jiminy's train of thought. Sora looked hurt.

"Look, stuff like this, mistaking someone for another person, happens all the time. You don't have to take it personally, Sora," said Leon.

"You DO know his name," said Goofy.

"You do remember me," said Sora, looking surprisingly cheerful.

"How do I know your name?" Leon wondered, looking down at the ground. 'What's going on with my memory…?'

"Maybe Aerith was onto something Leon," came another voice. A young girl with short black hair walked out of the shadows. One look at her appearance might have caused people to label her as a ninja. "She said there was some sort of uncanny power around, and asked us to look into it. We should probably take Sora to Aerith."

"So, you know my name, Yuffie?" Sora asked, looking at the girl.

"And it looks like you know mine."

"Is he a friend of yours?" Leon inquired.

"Nope, total stranger. But it's kinda convenient. We can skip the introductions."

Sora sighed. So much for that.

"C'mon. You can come with us to find Aerith," said Leon, "With the heartless around, its better if we travel in a large group."

"Right," said Sora, falling in line behind Leon, "Do you really not remember me, Yuffie?"

"Nope. And I'm still confused as to why you know my name, because this is the first time we've met," said Yuffie, "But it's kind of weird. I do feel like I sorta know you guys. You're not in my memory, but my heart remembers you."

* * *

After that, everyone descended into silence, thinking about what was going on. This castle was weird, Sora had decided. That hooded guy said that he had forgotten everything, so why did he remember Leon and Yuffie? And why didn't they remember him? How much more was he going to forget, or remember?

"Hey Aerith," said Yuffie, joyfully opening the door. Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed her and Leon inside, and found Aerith sitting at the table.

"Aerith, don't tell me you've forgotten me as well," said Sora, hopefully.

"To be honest, I don't know whether to say "It's nice to meet you," or "It's good to see you again," Maybe it's a little of both," Aerith said, looking rather confused, "I feel like you belong here, but I don't think I know you."

"But I'm telling you that you do know me!" Sora protested, "We fought the heartless together at Hollow Bastion!"

"You've mentioned this before," said Leon, "And it feels like you're right, but I certainly can't remember…You said that I said something. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

"I remember you saying that," said Yuffie, "I don't know why though."

"I guess we can't write this off as a coincidence then," Aerith nodded, "I also recall you saying that, even though I can't really remember it. Sora's memory must be doing the remembering for us."

"How does that work?" Donald asked. He'd been listening closely, but nothing was making sense. His brain felt like it was about to explode.

"I really don't know. Sora, your heart is full of memories of us together. Those memories resonate in our hearts too, and that's why we know things that we wouldn't know otherwise," Aerith explained, standing and smoothing out her dress.

"So, Sora's memories are affecting ours?" asked Leon. That's what it sounded like, anyway.

"They seem to have a certain power," Aerith replied.

"Maybe it's just like the guy said, Sora," Goofy suggested, "The town's just an illusion, somethin' made outta your memories."

"And, there's someone special to you in this town?" asked Aerith.

"How did you…oh wait, our memories must be resonating again. But anyways, yeah, a friend of mine is somewhere in this town, or rather Castle Oblivion."

"Castle? There aren't any of other in Traverse Town," said Yuffie, laughing.

"That's not quite what I mean," Sora replied.

"You probably still have some more questions, right?" Aerith looked at Sora, and smiled.

"Right. But we just got here, so we should probably have another look around," said Sora, looking at Donald and Goofy.

"We'll give you a hand," said Yuffie, "I'll go and tell Cid." Without another word, Yuffie ran out the door.

"Thanks," Sora nodded. Donald and Goofy followed suit.

"Sora, wait. Your skills are rusty. I better teach you how to fight again," said Leon.

"I can fight," Sora replied, looking rather annoyed.

"It'll be good for you, Sora," said Donald, heading out the door.

"Donald, come with me to Merlin's," said Aerith, "You'll want to relearn magic."

"It looks like the memories are resonatin' again," Goofy laughed.

* * *

Sora followed Leon into the back alley behind the house. Leon took out his gunblade.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Sora asked, the keyblade appearing in his hand.

"Simple. Dodge me," said Leon, and he lunged forward. Sora leapt to the side, panicked. He hadn't expected Leon to start so fast.

"Slow down!" He protested, narrowly blocking a blow from Leon.

"Do you think your enemies are going to care if you're ready or not?" Leon responded. "You can do better than this, Sora!" Sora nodded and jumped back. He didn't really want to be here. He wanted to go find Riku, and figure out what was going on with this castle. That lay through Leon though. Leon charged forward again. Sora rolled to the side, launching his own attack. Leon could see him coming though, and blocked it.

"That was better," He said, "It looks like you've remembered how to dodge roll."

"No sweat," Sora replied, smiling. He jumped up, swinging the keyblade down. His intent was to hit Leon on the head. Leon smiled. Sora's enthusiasm really knew no bounds. He blocked with his gunblade, throwing Sora to the ground. Sora managed to stay standing, though, and ran in for another attack.

"What about your magic? You could use that as well, couldn't you?" Leon suggested.

"Right," Sora said, memories starting to come back to him. That's right. He could use magic. Merlin had taught him and Donald. Then he had an idea.

"Freeze!" he said, focusing the magic to the end of the keyblade. He froze the ground under Leon, leaving a nice patch of ice beneath his feet. Leon went to continue the fight, when he slipped on the ice. Sora whacked him on the head.

"I win," he grinned. "Thanks Leon."

"No problem Sora. Now, let's go look for your friends," Leon said, getting up, and nearly slipping again.

"Here," Sora laughed, "Let me give you a hand."

* * *

And so the search began. After he was finished his training with Leon, Sora took to the streets, searching every nook and cranny, battling heartless along the way. He had to admit that he did feel better about fighting now. Leon's instructions had really helped. Sora soon ran into Donald, whose magic had returned, and so the two went to find Goofy. On Sora's shoulder, Jiminy began to once again record their adventures. It was fun, really. Teaming up with Leon and everyone. Just like the old days. Finally, they all met in the third district.

"So, your friend wasn't here, huh Sora?" said Cid, leaning against the wall.

"Do you remember me?" Sora asked, once more hopeful. He looked at the older man, who was chewing idly on a toothpick.

"Nope, sorry, I just heard about you from Yuffie," Cid replied, "Although you do look kinda familiar."

Sora sighed. It was worth a shot.

"It's alright. He wasn't here anyway, but he must be somewhere in the castle."

"Sorry we couldn't be more help," said Leon, "But it seems that there's a lot more going on than we thought."

"It's alright. Your training really helped, and I think we can handle heartless by ourselves now, right guys?"

Donald and Goofy nodded. Donald looked especially happy. He had his magic back, and those robed guys had better watch out.

"Guess we better get going, huh Sora?" Goofy said, turning towards the gate that led out of the city. Sora nodded, turning to go.

"I can't accept that this is the first time we've met," said Leon, "We may never see each other again, but we'll never forget each other. That's what your heart is telling me. Good luck."

"Thanks," said Sora with a wave, watching his friends leave. He'd see them again, World border or no.

"Sora, wait…"

"Aerith, what is it? Did we forget something?" Sora asked.

"No, there's something I have to tell you. You should…beware your memories," Aerith said.

"What does that mean?"

"Believe what's in your heart, and don't let any illusions distract you from what's really important."

"Okay," Sora nodded. He wasn't entirely sure what the advice was about, but something told him that he should pay attention to it. Aerith knew a lot, and it was her who had figured out how Sora's memories were affecting everyone.

"Sora, come on!" Donald yelled.

"Coming! Well Aerith, I…huh?" Sora blinked. Aerith had disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Donald asked running back impatiently. "How come you were just standing there talking to yourself?"

"I was talking to Aerith. Didn't you see her?" Sora replied.

"No. We were wondering why you were standing here by yourself," Goofy replied.

"So this is what she meant," Sora mumbled, heading towards the exit. One step close to finding Riku and the King. It was time to face the second floor.

* * *

**A/N:** Very much an exposition chapter, heavy on the dialogue. The next chapter will be more interesting, as it contains a boss fight.Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next update will come when it does. Hopefully before my break runs out. Hope everyone has a happy holiday, regardless of what you celebrate.


End file.
